“There it is!” squealed Kite. “Somebody shoot it down, already!”
Soldiers on the ground seemed more concerned with fumbling with their flashing-light signals. The coffin continued its solemn climb, and eventually its tail cleared the surface. The blast of wind from the exhaust sent many of the light-flickering soldiers tumbling.
The rocket-coffin kept ascending. It neared the firefighting vessel.
“Collide with it, if you must!” Kite bellowed.
The volunteer firefighter in the pilot’s seat just laughed. That was definitely not in the job description. In fact, to avoid a collision at all costs, the pilot actually moved out of the way.
Leaning so far out the window he nearly fell to his death, Kite fired at the rocket. “Shit! Why isn’t anyone else doing anything? Where are the anti-air units?”
Hot fumes of exhaust blew through the open window with turbulent force. By the time the occupants sorted themselves out, the makeshift ship was already high above them, its blazing tail pushing it ever higher.
“Damn it! Damn it all!” Kite resumed shooting.
The troops on the ground chose that as the sign to commence firing. It was too late, though; the coffin was already nearing the stratosphere.
“It’s no use,” conceded the soldier in the front seat.
Those words created an impulse to laugh that Entoryua could not suppress. The knowledge that it might lead to his death flashed through his mind, but still, he laughed and laughed. He cackled until his eyes watered and his stomach hurt.
“Why do they have all the luck?” whined Kite. “God must really hate us. He can’t even give us a single break. They are always the ones who win.”
Entoryua finally understood — although Kite was a product of the same genetic engineering as the Abh, the two races existed in entirely different contexts. Kite’s hatred of the Abh wasn’t personal; it was racial prejudice, plain and simple.
Although he felt a twinge of pity for Kite, Entoryua kept laughing.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Please, Aim Kasalia,” Lesheik Roifrode Spoor interrupted Cufadiss as he rattled off a seemingly endless list of coordinates, “spare me the details.” “But, Lesheik-“
“I trust you completely to clean up the land targets.” “I know, but I still have to make ex post facto reports.”
“Well, the Lesheik says it’s not necessary.” Spoor turned away from him. “This isn’t a battle, anyway. It’s more of an extermination.”
Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Cufadiss regretted proposing the operation.
They’d already apprehended fifteen thousand people who were in airspace surrounding Loebehynu Sufagnaum and transferred those people to a transport ship. They’d also dismantled the enemy’s aerial HQ.
After that, they released almost three hundred million electromagnetic wave bugs into the planet’s city centers. The Dembuus picked up electromagnetic wave signals and latched onto them, transmitting their own static on that wavelength. Even though they were not very powerful individually, their output in great numbers was enough to cripple any communications system. Getting rid of them would be a real pain in the neck.
Basically, there were a bunch of soldiers running around on the planet with no discernible headquarters to keep them in line, and even if there had been, they wouldn’t have been able to communicate with it anyway.
On top of that, the Futune roamed around, striking at enemy bases outside the main cities. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.
“I just ask that you seek my permission before you do anything that might harm any Sos.”
“Right.” Cufadiss’ head drooped.
“How many hours until the main force arrives?” asked Spoor.
“Should be here in four hours and fifteen minutes.”
“I see.” The Roifrode sighed. “Excuse me. I’m going to the Shil Lesheikal.”
“Very good.” Cufadiss saluted.
The Kasalia Drokia cleared his throat. “Aim Kasalia, there’s an urgent message for you.”
“Transfer it.”
Cufadiss’ Kreuno beeped, informing him of the incoming data. After a cursory glance at the message’s contents, he called out to Spoor.
“What now?” Spoor asked in her most exasperated voice.
“The Lardbyrsh’s Bodoemia just rescued some drifting refugees from satellite orbit.”
“And?”
“Well, they claim to be Feia Borl Paryun and Lonyu Jarluker Dreur Haidar.”
“Feia Borl Paryun?” Spoor sneered. “What, did the little princess run away from home?”
“No, I heard Feia was a Bene Lodair on the Resii Gosroth, and that Lonyu Jarluker Dreur Haidar was just along for the ride. Then — “
Cutting him off with a loud sigh, Spoor returned to her Lesheikibash. “Lighten up, Aim Kasalia. You’re too serious.”
He blinked. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize when you’ve done nothing wrong!”
“Sor-” he swallowed it. “Okay.”
“Thank you. So, they’ve been living on a Nahen. What’s their condition?”
“I’ll ask the Salerl of the Bodoemia. I can decide directly whether they’re fit to report directly to this ship.”
“Oh no!” grumbled the vice-admiral. “The very elegant Commander Spoor has been at odds with the coarse Abliar family for some time now.”
“So, should I just have them wait on the Lardbyrsh until Trife arrives?”
“Why would you do a thing like that?” Her crimson eyes looked directly into Cufadiss’ soul. “Invite them over — it sounds like fun.”